Interviews April-May 2011

“What does the death of Osama bin Laden mean to the world today, after ten years of the so-called “War on Terror”? On the next Your Call, we’ll open the lines to talk about the significance of Osama bin Laden’s death.”

Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald join us to talk about their recently released book, Crossing Zero: The AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire. They discuss the origins of the Taliban and the array of armed groups in AfPak that are lumped together as “Taliban” by US media and politicians. Gould-Fitzgerald talk about Pakistan’s double play, the struggle for oil and gas that is the basis for the conflict, pipeline politics, the confused or even lack of strategy in the senseless costly war, the current corruption ridden puppet regime in Afghanistan, Obama administration’s drone-mania, their 8-point plan for ending the US occupation, and more!

*For the history of democracy in Afghanistan, and a detailed recounting of the US support for the Mujahiddin during the 1980′s Soviet occupation, creating some of the “blowback” seen in the current US occupation, listen to Peter B Collins’ recent interview of the Gould-Fitzgerald duohere.

“Hekmatyar and what he represents about U.S. policy in Afghanistan is featured heavily in a new book called Crossing Zero: the AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire by Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald. Gould and Fitzgerald have a long history of covering Afghanistan. Following from their 2009 book Invisible History: Afghanistan’s Untold Story, in this new book, they explore the war’s expansion into Pakistan, its various contradictions, and consequences for the region.” Apr 4, 2011 -KPFK, uprisingradio.org